Hospital appliance



Sept. 19, 1961 H. E. HART HOSPITAL APPLIANCE Filed Oct. 17, 1960 United States Patent O Filed Oct. 17, 1960, Ser. No. 63,127 1 Claim. (Cl. 4-110) My present invention relates to a hospital appliance and, more particularly, to an improved urinal and bulk collecting container therefor.

An object of my invention is to provide a safe, sanitary and convenient means for use in hospitals and the like for the relief of bedridden patients when the need arises.

A further object of the invention is to provide a urinal of practical, sanitary construction which may be employed by a patient without the assistance of a nurse or the like and which may be repeatedly used without requiring an emptying thereof after each use.

Another object of the invention is to provide a urinal having a body engaging and area encompassing cone-like member which, when applied to the genital region of a patient, may be safely used for the relief of a patient requiring same.

Another object of the invention is to provide a body engaging receptacle having a drainage connection with a container disposed externally of the bed, that is provided with a retaining lip or dam at its open end which will prevent an overflow or spilling in the event of delayed drainage therefrom.

Other objects and advantages will be in part evident to those skilled in the art and in part pointed out hereinafter in the accompanying description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a side view of my improved appliance with portions broken away and in section to reveal details of construction,

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the central vertical plane of a portion of the device as shown in FIGURE 1, and

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary view showing the open end of the device as shown in FIGURE 2.

The use of a conventional bed pan or duck by female and male patients often becomes a very embarrassing experience. This is particularly true during the convalescent stage when the patient may have suflicient mobility to permit him or her taking care of these matters without the assistance of a nurse or hospital attendant. It is therefore a principal object of my invention to provide a device that may be placed in a convenient location adjacent the bed of a patient where the facilities provided for may be availed of without the need of an assistant.

For a better understanding of my invention, reference is now made to the accompanying drawing where in FIG- URE l, the numeral designates a pail-like receptacle having a bale 11 by which it may be conveniently transported about. At its bottom the receptacle 10 has a substantially flat base 12 that will serve to prevent an accidental tipping thereof and at its upper end it carries a cover 13 which is tightly fittted over its open end. This cover 13 is secured upon the receptacle 10 by snap fasteners or the like 14 and extending centrally through the top of the cover 13 there is a length of flexible hose or conduit 15 which is connected at its upper end to a patient engaging cone-like receptacle 16. The flexible conduit 15 will be of sufl'icient length so that, when the device is in use, the cone-like receptacle will engage with the genital region of a reclining patient with receptacle Patented Sept. 19, 1961 10 resting on the floor adjacent to bed. When the device is not in use, this flexible hose or conduit 15 may be coiled partially around receptacle 10 as shown by dot and dash lines with the cone-like receptacle 16 at the end thereof supported upon a saddle-like bracket 17 that 15 attached to one side of the container 10. At the other side of container 10, there is an upstanding support 18 having a plurality of hooks 19 which when engaged by a ring 20 carried by the conical member 16 will serve as a support for the member 16 before or after use in a convenient position which may be easily reached by a bedridden patient.

In its construction the container 10 and the cover 13 should be of stainless steel or of plastic rustless construction which can be easily cleaned and retained in a sanitary condition. The hose or conduit 15 should also be of a diameter of not less than 1 /2" so thata free dra1nage thereof will be facilitated. The cone llke body engaging member 16 may be made of vulcanized rubber or a suitable plastic and should be of such construct on that it will possess a limited amount of flexibility at its open end.

As is more clearly shown in FIGURE 2 of the drawing, the conical member 16 is provided with an inwardly turned lip 21 at its lower edge to provide a limited llqllld retaining cavity therein which will accommodate any sudden accumulation of fluid and thus prevent a spilling thereof when the device is not properly engaged with the body of the user.

As is more clearly shown in FIGURE 3 of the drawing, the open end of conical member 16 is of elliptical cross section and tapers back to a cylindrical cross section where it engages with conduit 15.

This conical member 16 is also of such a length and breadth at its open end that when applied to the body of a patient it will encompass the rectum as well as the urinary tract so that in extreme cases it is conceivable that the device may be safely employed for elimination purposes particularly where the device may be used with a reasonably rapid drop in the flexible conduit 15 to the container 10.

, While I have, for the sake of clearness and in order to disclose my invention so that the same can be readily understood, described and illustrated a specific form and arrangement, I desire to have it understood that this invention is not limited to the specific form disclosed, but may be embodied in other ways that will suggest themselves to persons skilled in the art. It is believed that this invention is new and all such changes as come within the scope of the appended claim are to be considered as part of this invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

In a combined urinal and body movement accommodating facility, the combination of a pail-like container having a bale for convenient handling, a cover removably attached ot said container having a central opening, a flexible conduit attached to said cover and extending through said central opening, a flaring substantially rigid cone-like member attached to the upper end of said flexible conduit, the length of said flexible conduit being suflicient to reach from said container to said cone-like member when applied to a bedridden patient, a saddlelike bracket mounted upon the side of said container and contoured to receive and support said cone-like member with said flexible conduit in a coiled condition about said reeeptaele' when said container is being moved from one tion, and by the fact that said open end has an inwardly extending lip forminga dam across the lower region of said opening to prevent the escape of fluid when in use.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Price u, Aug. 2, 1870 Knight et 211.v Mar. 25, 1873 

